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To: Bearcatbob who wrote (156609)	9/7/2011 4:50:43 PM
From: Sam	4 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206089

Bob, Solyandra's bankruptcy doesn't show "how corrupt the whole game of the AGW cash machine has become" any more (or less) than the Macondo spill showed how inept the oil industry as a whole is. People were predicting its demise for years (see article below). Just as people have been predicting that another large spill would occur. There were errors (and yeah, I am using a polite term here) by the govt in both cases, as well as errors in the private sector. To generalize either of those (and plenty of other cases could be cited) to an entire sector (or to just the govt) without qualification is simply wrong. As usual, there are an abundance of complexities that require attention. Solyndra's problems have been well documented by my colleague Eric Wesoff and others on this site. (See these 2008 stories for more background.)The company makes an unusual solar cell that costs far more than traditional crystalline solar cells. Solyndra's average sale price is around $3.24 a watt and the company has been selling panels at a loss. Crystalline silicon solar panels sell for $1.95 or less a watt and companies can sell them for a profit. Although Solyndra can argue that its modules are cheaper to install, the modules only makes sense economically in a few corner-case scenarios. A private letter ruling from the IRS says that building owners can deduct the cost of a new roof in some circumstances when putting in a Solyndra system, but it only applies in some cases. Performance reviews weren't promising. During the summer, it cancelled an IPO and then the company swapped out CEO and founder Chris Gronet with Brian Harrison, the former CEO of Numonyx, a memory company that recently got sold to Micron after a series of delays. Why has Solyndra done so well in fundraising? Some of it has to do with circumstances. Solyndra actually applied for DOE loans back in 2006, when Bush was still President. When Obama announced that he wanted to rev the energy economy, Solyndra happened to be first in line. Investors were also intrigued by the novel tubular module. A tube, potentially, can harvest sun for more hours each day. The design, at a minimum, gave them some assurance that they weren't investing in a me-too panel. But, at each juncture, instead of pulling out and pulling the plug, investors doubled down. What happens next? We know what the solar industry thinks. Solyndra will collapse is the general opinion. But it still has a single factory. In some long-shot scenario, something good could, maybe, one day, come out of this. greentechmedia.com

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (156609)	9/7/2011 7:02:21 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	6 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206089

<fiasco with the Solyndra (sp?) bankruptcy shows how corrupt the whole game of the AGW cash machine has become.> Every new industry is trying out a lot of new technologies, with a lot of small companies. Over time, one technology emerges as the winner, and a few mature companies grow to dominate, while the rest disappear. This is normal. It's a recognized and expected pattern in new industries. In the 1800s, most railroad companies failed, but the industry thrived. 100 years ago, the new automobile industry had hundreds of little companies, trying out a wild variety of engines. Eventually the internal combustion engine won, and all the companies that had bet on all the alternatives, died. In the history of the airline industry, the majority of airline companies have gone bankrupt, some of them serially, yet every year more and more people fly. Also, the government has often supplied the essential start-up capital, and/or the initial market, for new industries. The airplane industry started, when the government contracted with them, to deliver mail faster, and the military got interested in the possibilities of air power. Many railroads, including the first transcontinental, were funded by federal subsidies. The auto industry wouldn't exist, if the government didn't spend vast amounts on our roads (we have Socialized roads, just like we have Socialized schools, and eventually will have Socialized Medicine). The winnowing out of losers, and gradual emergence of a dominant technology, is what's happening in solar. Solyndra made a bet on the wrong technology, and ran out of capital. The solar industry is no more corrupt or wasteful than the 1800s railroad build-out, or a dozen other historical examples I could use.